*Nice season debut for Rick Jackson. 14 points and 7 rebounds to lead Syracuse in both categories. He added 4 assists, 2 blocks, and 2 steals for good measure.

Rick did a nice job passing out when he was double teamed, working for good shots, was aggressive on defense, and hitting the boards. He was also key when Syracuse kick started things to open up the game in the second half and pull away from a scrappy Northern Iowa squad.

There is a slight flaw in his game as pointed out in the dark side, but the complaint department is otherwise quiet on Rick's debut.

*Kris Joseph's second half.

Joseph certainly had his struggles in the first half, but rallied to end up tied as the Orange's leading scorer with 14 points and added five rebounds on the night. Not a stellar overall shooting day, but a it is a big bonus that he had two three-pointers on the night.

*It is going to be hard not to believe the hype on Dion Waiters, who had 10 points in his Syracuse debut. You watch him play, and it leaves you wanting more. You also want to take the usual caution when dealing with a young player, but the more you watch him the more he makes you want to throw that caution to the wind. There are certainly parts of his game that will need to round out, but he certainly looks like he belongs out there, right from Day 1.

It was telling that, as expected, he was the first guy off the bench. He looked much more comfortable and confident on the floor after shaking off some nerves in the exhibition games.

Waiters stuck a couple of three's, worked to get open well, and held his own on defense. I think he's a work in progress there, but nothing that can't be fixed with more reps.

Jim Boeheim had a valid description of Dion's debut in labeling it "very solid" in postgame.

The key with Waiters is that he has a strong mentor in Scoop Jardine. Waiters can slip right into the same exact role as Scoop was in a year ago, but the scary thing is (for other teams) he has loads more raw talent at this point of his career than Scoop did. This game may be an example of what can happen when Scoop struggles.

You won't even notice it, because Waiters is capable of picking up the slack.

Can't wait to see more of this kid as we go. He has a lot of confidence in himself (it borders on brashness, really) and calls the experience of coming off the bench "humbling". But he is ready to contribute and has been waiting for his moment for five years.

He's ready to cash in.

Dennis Nett/The Post Standard 2010

*James Southerland is going to be a lot of fun to watch this year.

First of all, this kid can flat-out shoot it. We saw glimpses of that last year in spot duty, but get ready for more of it this season. Both of his three-point shots in this game were very nice shots. His size will get a shot over pretty much any defender in his face and he has a very polished approach.

He seems to have made a big jump from freshman to sophmore year. What he had to work on was his defense and that seems to be vast improved from last year. There were times vs Northern Iowa that this team went into the press with Southerland on the baseline because he covers so much ground with his wingspan. That could become a nice little trump card in Boeheim's back pocket when he has to go to it.

*Fab Melo was limited by foul trouble (get ready for more of that) but had his moments in 18 minutes of play. Fab had nice dunk towards the end of the game, put himself in the right positions defensively, and grabbed 4 boards. He is very active, vocal, and will be huge at the top of that zone.

*Baye Moussa Keita is a pleasant surprise in a lot of ways. He plays hard, can block shots, has a pretty decent jumper, and is certainly going to get his opportunities with Fab's foul trouble inevitable. He was the second guy off the bench and it is clear he has a spot in the rotation, at least in the early going.

The irony is, he actually fouled out before Fab did in this game.

*Brandon Triche spread the ball around nicely with 5 assists, finished with 5 points (including a three that put a giant smile on his face) and led the team in minutes with 32.

More on Triche in the dark side, but he had a pretty good debut overall.

*Not the best debut for Scoop Jardine as he was held scoreless, but he still managed to squeak out 4 assists. I was really impressed with Scoop's attitude in the locker room about the whole thing. He was very poised and acted as if it was a one-time thing. He showed some leadership qualities in handling what was a bad start for a player with big plans this year.

*C.J. Fair is going to be an interesting case study. He is going to push the envelope on how far that Boeheim rotation will go down the bench. Fair finished with six points and three boards overall.

You will get noticed quickly if you play good defense and Fair made a very nice positional block falling back words in the second half and threw down the dunk of the game shortly after that on a nice drive to the hoop to finish with the lefty jam.

Some have compared Fair's game to Josh Pace, and I can see some of the similarities, but it would have to be a more athletic version that Pace.

*The defensive effort was solid all game. Northern Iowa was holding the ball until the shot clock was winding down on as many possessions as they could, but the SU defense was patient, aggressive, and wall-to-wall. Good to see Syracuse answer a defensive- minded team with a piece of their own medicine.

The Panthers finished the game 15-55 for 27% from the field. They shot 27% in the first half, and 28% in the second.

The defensive effort also yielded 9 steals and 6 blocks.

*This team has an outside shooting problem, right?

Maybe not.

SU was 9-for-19 from three-point range. James Southerland had 2, Kris Joseph had 2, Dion Waiters had 2, and Brandon Triche added one as well (as did walk on Matt Tomaszewski).

This team may not have an Andy Rautins, but that might not even matter. A balanced approach from outside may work out just fine if this game is any indication.

Dennis Nett/The Post Standard 2010

*After a horrid first half shooting (7-22, 32%) as Syracuse adjusted to Northern Iowa's aggressive defense, SU shot 65% in the second half (15-23) to end the game 22-45 (49%).

*Look at the improvement in outside shooting from first half to second. 2-9 at 22% in the first half to 7-10 for 70% in the second half. Not bad.

*I thought with the combination of an aggressive Northern Iowa defense, young team, and first game of the year would equal a lot of turnovers. Wasn't the case as Syracuse only had 11.